MUSIC FOR LUNCH
Baritone Wil Holm sings some of Aaron Copland's American Songs and Paul Bowles' Blue Mountain Ballads. Bowles, before he wrote the acclaimed novel The Sheltering Sky and exiled himself to Tangier, was a noted composer and critic. Popular songs from Man of La Mancha, Carmen, and The Barber of Seville round out the program. Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ, 1624 Fourth Ave, 622-7580, 12:15 pm, free.
FRIDAY JANUARY 30
DEE DANIELS
Shucks, I wish this fine jazz singer weren't buried amid the flood of clinics, films, and kids' concerts that comprise EMP's Jazz in January. But that's EMP in a nutshell; its genuine but scattershot interest in non-pop music like jazz (and fringe folks like Steven Jesse Bernstein) sometimes results in half-assed events and exhibits. And don't get me started on the empty calories of American Music, a pompously titled photo exhibit by that top-drawer stock photographer Annie Leibovitz. Sky Church at EMP, 325 Fifth Ave N, 770-2702, 8 pm, $15/$18.
NORTHWEST SINFONIETTA
Christophe Chagnard conducts this Tacoma-based group in Barber's Adagio (remember Platoon?), some Gershwin, and a transcription of Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady." Also in this concert devoted to American composers: Copland's Outdoor Overture. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 253-383-5344, 8 pm, $10/$28/$38.
NON GRATA
This large free-jazz ensemble shambles into the seedy, sometimes-dreadlocked heart of hippie country. I can see it now: Once and future Deadheads twirl and twirl and twirl only to be sent sprawling to the floor by Non Grata's squalling sonic eruptions. Blue Moon Tavern, 712 NE 45th St, 545-8190, 10 pm, free.
SATURDAY JANUARY 31
MATT JORGENSEN + 451
There's nothing like jazz at a solidly middle-class Irish pub where there's just enough smoke to make you feel like you're out on the town but not enough to clog the lungs. Sharing the bill with Jorgensen's sleek, straight-ahead jazz group is trumpeter Jay Roulston's Monkey Mind Control. Both groups sound fresh and new thanks to discreet and deft electronics. Conor Byrne, 5140 Ballard Ave NW, 784-3640, 9 pm, $8.
MONDAY FEBRUARY 2
QUAKE
For the 2003-2004 season, the Seattle Symphony farmed out the Music of Our Time series to local ensembles. Chamber-music group Quake augments its lineup to traverse California Minimalist Paul Dresher's Channels Passing, John Adams' Road Movies, and John Luther Adams' Make Prayers to the Raven. Also two world premieres: William O. Smith's Five Portraits, and an as-yet-untitled piece by pianist Meade Crane. Quake always adds a lollipop; this time around it's an arrangement of "One Note Samba." Recital Hall at Benaroya, Third Ave and Union St, 215-4747, 7:30 pm, $12-$22.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3
MARK O'LEARY TRIO
Composer/violinist Eyvind Kang and dexterously daunting Vancouver drummer Dylan van der Schyff join O'Leary, an adventurous Irish avant guitarist currently crisscrossing the country. This show kicks off a month-long bout of guitar-oriented gigs at Polestar. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $8.
